It was the first weekend of June and my appetite for wine-tasting was whetted by my recent Los Olivos Wine Trail trip. I decided to venture up a bit along the Santa Rita Hills area. The first stop on the itinerary was Dierberg & Star Lane Vineyards. The winery signs in Santa Rita Hills aren’t always the biggest or most well placed, so after a safe U-turn, I was headed up Drum Canyon Rd towards a large forest green and red accented barn. With a well-trimmed green lawn in front and the title, “Dierberg * Star Lane” underneath their star logo on the face of the structure, I knew we had arrived.

Surrounded by new vineyards and the hills in the distance, this was a beautiful new property. Opened in 2008, the facility was almost spotless. Walking through the huge barn doors, the scent of freshly cut wood filled the air. The tasting room is an offshoot of the main room, directly to your right as you walk in. With a small z shaped wooden bar, it’s easy to imagine the room getting crowded. Not so this afternoon as we received prompt service from 1 of 2 bartenders.

There are two tastings available: one from the Dierberg and Star Lane Vineyards line and one for their declassified brand, Three Saints. Ideally, I would have liked to taste both, but with limited time that afternoon, I opted for the Dierberg and Star Lane tasting. Although the tastings don’t come with the Riedel red wine glasses they’re poured in, I appreciated the use of the wine glasses to help showcase the wines.

The bartender started by pouring a small amount of 2006 Star Lane Sauvignon Blanc from their Santa Ynez vineyard into our glasses. The nose was full of citrus and fruit with strong aromas of lemon, grapefruit, and sweet peach. Once in my mouth, those citrus smells faded into the background of light oaky flavors. This Sauvignon Blanc ended abruptly with a clean finish.

From the Santa Maria Valley, the soft gold 2005 Dierberg Chardonnay smelled lightly of toast which turned into smooth citrus on the palate with a crisp finish. This wine was a pleasure to drink and my favorite of the two whites offered.

Looking forward to getting into the reds, the 2005 Dierberg Pinot Noir from Santa Maria was first up. The Pinot Noir had a dark cranberry hue and a fruity nose full of cherries and raspberries. On my tongue the wine was very smooth and the full flavors of dark berries were prominent. It finished off with a dry spicy ending.

The last two wines were grown in the Santa Ynez Valley Star Lane vineyard. The ’04 Star Lane Syrah was dark purple with a deep black cherry nose with hints of vanilla. In the mouth, the body was dry and smoky with a long slightly bitter coffee-flavored finish.

Finishing the tasting was the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, a deep red with hues of milk chocolate. The nose smelled strongly of ripe currant and left a light dry mouth feel with a short spicy kick at the end.

These wines are all estate grown and I found the flavors to be big, boldly displaying their individual characteristics. The newest Dierberg vineyard surrounds the tasting room in Drum Canyon and will see its first harvest this fall as six clones of Pinot Noir were planted in 2005. I’m looking forward to coming back and trying the new Santa Rita Hills selections in the future.

My tasting was: $10 not including a glass. Three Saints tastings are $5.

Dierberg & Star Lane Vineyards

1280 Drum Canyon Road(off the 246)

Lompoc CA 93436

http://www.dierbergvineyard.com/

http://www.threesaintsvineyard.com/